Why is the day after Christmas called Boxing Day?

WASHINGTON — After Christmas Day, the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth countries celebrate Boxing Day. This year, it’s Friday. 

Boxing Day is celebrated in the U.K. on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas every year. Despite the name, the holiday has nothing to do with the sport of boxing or returning boxes or presents. 

Britannica explains the origin of the holiday’s name varies and some believe “it derived from the opening of alms boxes that had been placed in churches for the collection of donations to aid the poor.” 

History.com says another theory is that the day after Christmas was when boxes filled with small gifts and money would be given to household servants and employees who had to work on Dec. 25. The gifts were meant as a thank you for their service throughout the year.  

Though it’s name is unclear, the Oxford English Dictionary traces its earliest print attribution to 1833. 

As the holiday evolved over the years, it has become an extension of the Christmas season, with family and friends gathering to celebrate together. In the U.K. and other British Commonwealth countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand, Boxing Day is also one of the most popular shopping days of the year, rivaling Black Friday in the United States. 

Though the day isn’t associated with the boxing sport, people in the U.K. have come to associate the holiday with watching soccer and cricket with friends and family. 

The Manchester United versus Newcastle United game is scheduled for Boxing Day at noon. Seven games are set for the day after Saturday, though. 

Former soccer player and current TV analyst Robbie Earle described in a 2019 video that when he thinks of Boxing Day, he thinks of “the biggest game of the Premier League season.”